Friday, December 30, 2016

Bella Swan Party Venue: Valle Verde 4 Clubhouse

I know this post is long overdue, my daughter's 7th birthday party was last June but the busy bee has too much on her plate right now, and it all just got stuck in the head and would not turn into words. Plus social media is a bad influence on me - ok hold on to that thought - I want to write something about that topic too, maybe, I could make that my New Year's resolution - less Facebook. Anyway, late as my post maybe, I would not want to missed sharing the party details as Bella's mini debut is a milestone for her and the best part of it is, we get to celebrate it with Uno - the latest addition to our family.

I know how hard it is to get information on the internet when you are planning an event as not all details are available online and so it gets so frustrating especially on my part since I am out of the country. Its such a hassle to coordinate everything from afar when you want all things to be done your way. Its like deja vu when I had to plan our wedding 6,904 km away last 2008. I think coming up with ideas is easy when you are planning an event but putting these ideas into action is the most difficult part. So sharing my personal experience in planning a party, dealing with suppliers and how they perform during your event is somewhat a duty for me to share to those who are like me when it comes to party planning.

First of, my mind was set already on her birthday theme since my mini-MEs first birthday party. I knew then what would be the next big thing for her. By the way, I am not fond of Disney character, princesses and the like. And I always wanted a unique party. theme Just like Bella's First Birthday celebration.

So on her 7th Birthday, the theme of the party is entitled: Bella Swan Party with motif of White and Pink with a touch of gold.

Valle Verde was not my first choice, however, during the initial stage of my preps, I was led to believe that I would be able to reserve my dream venue. But things just didn't work out the way I wanted it to be. This is the reason why I am hands on when it comes to planning a party as I do not want to you rely too much on people. Imagine the hassle I went through after I found out that our date was still not lock in after several months of waiting and even if I already handover the full amount of money to pay the reservation fee. Good thing we were still able to get the money back.

Moving forward, right after this incident, I seek the help of someone, to find me an alternative place to hold the party and I need it like, as soon as possible and luckily, as beggars can't be choosers we we were able to secure the venue in more or less a week.

Pros: In terms of appearance and interiors, the venue is perfect for theme of the party, simple yet elegant. We had to decorate the place a little to spruce it up. The size is also just right for our party of 70 adults and 30 kids capacity. Spaces on the side of the road can be use for vehicle so parking is not a problem. There is also a decent park and playground that we used for photo ops.

Cons: Just like all other clubhouses, the venue also has a lot of do's and don'ts and extra fees. The a/c was not working properly as well during the party. Maybe because, our party was held in the afternoon and the place was all glass wall, so we tend to get lot of exposure from the sun

I wasn't able to talk to the admin of the said place as I already have someone who is coordinating with the venue. Turns out, it was a one man show. My coordinator had a hard time getting in touch with Joel, in fairness to him, if I remember it correctly, his wife was in the hospital during this time so he was not fond of answering his calls. Although, I also read from somewhere that he was really not very accommodating. It doesn't really matter to me as I have only one business to attend to and that this to make sure the party will be smooth on the day.

To give you an idea on the venue, below are some of the photos

The corner where you see a brown dome door was used as our stage (behind the door is an altar) There is also small platform stage on the floor, so it was hard to attach the backdrop on the wall, my stylist needed to free stand it.

The venue has a high ceiling as well, which made it a little difficult to decorate, but I still chose to minimize the ceiling decors.

Here is the entrance to the clubhouse

If you can see from afar the place is all dome shape glass wall.

Sorry - I couldn't find a decent photo of the park and playground. It wasn't fancy though but a great place for some photo ops with a good photographer.

If you are looking for an affordable venue, I think it is fair to say that this is a good choice to hold a small party.